by Anson Kritsch, University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist

Now that all the artifacts recovered from Hubbard Park are clean, it’s time to start cataloging. Cataloging is a process of identifying, organizing and recording artifacts. Cataloging is done for several reasons. First, it creates a preserved record of all the things found during excavation.

by Cynthia Peterson, University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist

Archaeological work has shifted to the south end of the park. There, low-income renters lived near a small corner grocery run by the Sicilian Rinella family. The archaeologists and volunteers are staying warm in plastic yurts. Excavations are expected to continue through next week.

by Cynthia Peterson, Bill Whittaker, and Melody Pope, University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist

Hubbard Park, now part of the University of Iowa campus, was once an ethnically-mixed working-class neighborhood occupied from the 1840s until 1926, when it was razed during construction of the Iowa Memorial Union.